KSHB 41 reporter La’Nita Brooks covers stories providing solutions and offering discussions on topics of crime and violence. Share your story idea with La’Nita.
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As crime rates continue to rise, so does the demand for private security.
One local security company we spoke to said that just in the past year, their business has nearly tripled.
Like many businesses in the area, the Verizon Wireless store in the Blue Ridge Crossing Shopping Center in Independence has seen its fair share of crime, leading the property manager to hire a private security firm.
S.K. Security was founded in 2016 and serves Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas.
Cody Antrim is a sales representative at this Verizon store and has worked there for two years. He said there used to be a lot of activity on that strip.
“There were people doing drugs right outside the store, just walking around,” said Antrim. “I’ve seen some weird activity going on behind the trash cans.”
Increased rates of property crime, police shortages, and an uptick in the homeless population are some of the factors that have contributed to the increase in demand for private security.
S.K. Security said they help fill in the gap that other agencies can’t.
Patrick Sparks is the chief commerce officer of S.K. Security.
“The biggest thing is emergency services,” said Sparks. “A lot of our clients will call us and have an urgent need that same night or the following day where maybe KCPD doesn’t have an extra officer available, or other companies aren’t able to fill that on close to zero notice. But we can always find a way to make that happen.”
But it’s not just here, nationwide more companies are hiring armed security officers. A report by the Security Industry Association showed that the industry increased by nearly 15% since August.
A popular feature that S.K. Security offers is its mobile surveillance cameras.
“They can be a lot more cost-effective,” said Sparks. “They’re easy to deploy and can be remotely monitored from anywhere.”
That includes their dispatch center, which is monitored 24/7.
It’s efforts like these that have improved this shopping outlet.
“It feels like it's helped out a lot more because being here in general I haven’t seen, I know there’s a lot of people who wonder around this area, or used to wander around this area, I’ll be honest I haven’t really seen really anybody in the area at all,” said Antrim.
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